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“Actively resisting fascism.”

They Love Free Markets – Until They Don’t

Republicans worship the free market and rely on it to solve all manner of problems – until…

How far will state car-dealer associations go to prevent Tesla Motors from opening its electric-car showrooms and selling cars over the Internet?

A long, long way.

In North Carolina, a new law passed by the state Senate would apparently make it illegal for Tesla to e-mail its customers.

In other words, if you’re a North Carolina resident who has a question about Tesla, the new law may prohibit Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] from responding to your question via e-mail.

The specific wording of the law bars automakers from “using a computer or other communications facilities, hardware, or equipment” to sell or lease acar to anyone in North Carolina.

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Diarmuid O’Connell, vice president of business development for Tesla, told ABC News the bill was a “fundamentally protectionist effort to lock down the market and force us to sell through the middle man.”

There is some good news – it appears that consumers in the state are not going to take it lying down:

Tesla and its products are not without supporters in the Tar Heel State. There are 49 Tesla cars registered in North Carolina, and the company operates a service center in Raleigh, but it currently has no stores.

Citizens dismayed at the law…actually set up a private website, called Tesla Motors NC, to rally efforts around preventing passage of the law.